A Hero in Hallownest: The Call of the Gods
by Green-Knight-407
Summary: A non-canon side story for my main story, A Hero in Hallownest, focusing on Godhome and the Embrace the Void ending. Hope you enjoy.
1. The Master

_**The Master**_

The Knight had walked through a secret tunnel in the royal waterways, fought the Flukemarm, a giant worm creature, possible the mother of the fluke creatures in the waterways, and now stood in the middle of a massive junk pit. What looked like a huge golden sarcophagus sat in front of it. It had a keyhole in its center.

The Knight put a simple key in the hole (quite a feat, given its height) and turned it. The sarcophagus opened, and a fat gray bug tumbled out, unconscious. It wore a gray cloak over its long body and a golden mask on its head. The mask had a shield-like protrusion in the top, and large gold plates ran down its back. A strange golden object came out with it, and the Knight picked it up.

It was a sort of gold tablet. Round, with a point in the top. In the center was a ball of gold, which began to glow a soft yellow when the Knight touched the tablet. The glow got brighter and brighter, then suddenly stopped. Circles of essence began to float above the strange bug.

The Knight hit it with the Dream Nail, then fell unconscious.

A voice spoke to it from the whiteness.

"Blasphemy! Rank blasphemy! Thou crawler! Thou cringer! Thou smallest of the small! By what right dost thou trespass here, in this home of the Gods? Shrivel away and begone! Begone!"

* * *

The Knight appeared on a ledge of a huge black pillar in the Dream World. Below it, a glowing circle of runes allowed exit from the Dream World. A black and gold building atop another huge pillar rose from the clouds not far away. The area was full of black pillars, topped with gold, and enormous sweeping bridges held up by them. The farther they were, the higher they reached. A trail of four relatively small pillars led up to the building.

The Knight jumped across the pillars, then landed on the ledge at the entrance to the building. Three strange bugs like the one in the junk pit, only smaller (slightly larger than the Knight) and with gray wrappings on their bodies, binding their arms and legs, stood around the entrance to a wide, tall hallway. At the end was a hole in the ceiling and floor, and a golden portculus on the other side. Three arch-shaped golden doors, their edges carved into flowery shapes, sat at intermittent points on the left wall of the hallway.

The bugs simply stared at the Knight as it walked into the hall. It stopped before the first door in the hallway and looked up at it. A strange winged design with a notch for some oval shaped object hung above it, the bottom protruding down to its center, where a lock surrounded by nine circular golden plates hung below it. Each plate had an emblem of a white mask on it, but the Knight had no time to process them, as they and the lock started to glow, then disappeared. The door opened, and the Knight went inside.

The voice from earlier spoke again.

"Wretch! Thou hast ordained thine own destruction! Through sacred combat are We attuned to this Kingdom's greatest beings. By entering this gate thou hast challenged the very Gods of this Kingdom! Dost thou consider thyself the equal of this pantheon, of its masters? Draw thy weapon then, fool of fools, and be damned for thy arrogance!"

* * *

The Knight appeared on a large circular platform. A circle of seats surrounded the platform, with a sizable gap between them, full of the strange golden-masked bugs from the area before (called godhome). A giant version of the bugs, obviously the leader, sat in what seemed to be a throne above the other bugs. Two huge black towers rose up on either side of it a short distance away, seemingly reaching all the way to the sun above.

Suddenly, a giant winged creature with white pincers, the Vengefly King, appeared in a flash of light and a cloud of essence in the air above the platform. It flew towards the Knight, making a sweep across the arena floor with its pincers, but it jumped over, slashing the bug with its nail. The Knight quickly dealt with the Vengefly King, having already killed two of them before.

Once it died A bell sounded, and a bright light shone from above, blocking all vision.

When the light cleared, the Knight was standing in a room with the Gruz Mother, a giant flying bug. The room was identical in size and shape to the one where it had originally fought the Gruz Mother, except that the back wall was missing, allowing the 'audience' to see the fight. The Knight dispatched the Gruz Mother, then the False Knight and the Massive Moss Charger (a giant moving bush, essentially) without difficulty. After that, he faced Hornet. It was a bit harder, but the Knight still dealt with her quite easily.

After defeating Hornet, the Knight appeared in a room containing a bench and a hot spring, as well as more of the strange golden-masked bugs. It rested for a short time, then continued out the doorway. It fought Gorb, a warrior ghost who claimed to know everything.

After that, however, it appeared in a room that was covered in balls of dung. Nothing happened, however, as the bell simply rang and the Knight went on to the next fight. It then defeated the Soul Warrior and the Brooding Mawlek.

Next, it appeared in a small round room with a large doorway on one side. The giant bug that had been sitting on the thrones in the previous rooms, the Godseeker, was standing in front of it, eyes locked ahead. The Knight looked up at it, and it looked back down at the Knight. It spoke. "Why hast thou crept into this pantheon, o meagre one? The noise of thine wriggling creates much discord, drowning out the godly resonances we attune Ourselves to! Dost thou mean to thwart our sacred goal? Dost envy drive thou to such madness? We pray that the Gods of this Kingdom punish thee, obliterate thee, utterly destroy thee!"

The Knight walked through the doorway.

It appeared in another room like the ones prior, with its back wall missing and the two large pillars, but the room was much larger, and nails of many sizes stuck out of the ground. Nailmaster Oro was sitting on the ground on the other side of the room, facing away from the Knight and polishing his nail. Suddenly, he noticed the Knight's presence, turning his head slightly to look at it. He stood up and let out a long yell. The Knight readied its nail.

Oro leapt high into the air until he was directly above the Knight, then came down, slashing his nail. The Knight dashed out of the way, turning shadowy and incorporeal for a moment. Oro followed up with two swings of his nail, but the Knight jumped over him and hit him a few times from behind. Oro turned around and swung two more times with his nail. The Knight repeated its previous maneuver.

Suddenly, Oro leapt into the air again, this time landing on the opposite edge of the arena. He held his nail behind him, and the aura of a charging nail art surrounded him. The Knight jumped up just as he flew across the stage, performing a dash slash much larger than the Knight could ever hope to (not that it would, for it was devoid of thought and will).

The fight went on like this rather uneventfully for a time, until the Knight landed the final blow with its nail. Oro fell to his knees, letting out a soft groan. The bell didn't ring, however, and soon, Oro's identical brother Mato dropped down from above, landing next to Oro. He looked down at Oro, and their eyes met for a moment, then both stood up and let their battle cry out again.

In the heat of battle, the two brothers were indistinguishable from each other, except for when one of them performed a nail art. They worked in perfect sync, having trained a lifetime together, and the Knight had a hard time keeping up with them. One would jump in, attack, and jump out again as the other jumped in. The Knight was the only truly empty vessel, though, and eventually it defeated first Oro, and then Mato with its nail and spells.

The two stood up, then bowed their heads, and the bell rang. The world turned white.

* * *

**Merry Christmas!**


	2. The Artist

_**The Artist**_

The Knight woke up back in the junk pit, next to the strange bug. It was still laying on the ground, but now seemed to be semi-conscious. "Hallowed... land... tune... gods..." it said.

The Knight hit it with the Dream Nail.

* * *

It appeared in the Godhome again, and made its way across the black pillars to the hallway with the three doors. As it approached the second door, the lock on it disappeared. It read '_Pantheon of the Artist_'.

The door opened, and the Knight went inside. As the world went white, it once again heard the Godseeker's voice.

"Thou most ungrateful of blemishes! The Gods in their great mercy allow thee to escape their first pantheon alive, yet still thee think to test thineself against their might? Doom thyself then, that We may resume Our focus and ascend Our minds ever higher!"

It appeared in another arena, this one foggy and bluish. Xero, one of the ghosts of Hallownest, appeared above it. He was red, with two long horns and a floaty cloak. He attacked by throwing floating nails. The Knight defeated him rather easily, then went on to the Crystal Guardian, Soul Master, Oblobbles, Mantis Lords, Marmu, Nosk, Flukemarm, and the Broken Vessel.

After that, it appeared in a small room with the Godseeker, who was once again looking straight ahead. The Knight approached, and it looked down. "Ahh! Will the Gods not relieve Us of this troublesome speck?" it said. "How it tests Us, seeing this worm raise its filthy weapon to the Gods! Thou hast luck beyond luck, o speck! The Gods of this pantheon, for purpose beyond Our understanding, allow you amongst them. Truly, the divine punishment they must be planning for you will be beyond all reckoning. Prepare thyself! Prepare thyself!"

The Knight walked out of the door, coming into an arena the same shape and size as the one where it had fought Oro and Mato. Oro and the nails on the ground were gone, though. Instead, Sheo, the third nailmaster brother, stood in front of a canvas in the center, where he was painting something. He noticed the Knight's presence, and jumped up, making a loud battle cry. Instead of holding up a nail, though, he held a giant brush, yellow paint dripping from its fibers. In the other hand he held a palette.

Suddenly, he brought down the brush, and an enormous spear of yellow paint shot out. The Knight had no time to react, and was struck head on. It quickly recovered and put up its guard, then began to approach the 'paintmaster'. Sheo swiped his brush across his palette, struck the ground, sending out three balls of blue paint. The Knight sidestepped them, then got in a few nail slashes before Sheo jumped away. He raised his brush, and the aura of a charging nail art surrounded him. He brought his nail down hard on the ground, creating a massive splash of pink paint. The Knight began to approach again, but then it began raining globs of pink paint from above.

The Knight dashed through with its shade cloak and unleashed a dash slash on Sheo. Sheo responded by jumping straight up, then swinging his brush down, scattering globs of red paint below him. The Knight dodged them, but then Sheo slammed down onto the ground, hitting the Knight with the paint that splashed out around him. Sheo then made a horizontal swipe with his brush, which, with his level of mastery, was just as effective as a nail. The Knight ducked and rolled under the attack, then turned around and swung with a great slash. Sheo blocked with a wall of paint, but The Knight used the split-second cover it created to jump into the air, and as it cleared, it swung its nail, not at Sheo, but at his brush, slicing it cleanly in half, then landed on the ground.

Sheo was taken aback for a moment, then he dropped what was left of his brush handle and bowed.

* * *

**Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long, but I had a lot going on. My brother was in the hospital and I generally just lost the urge to write. Can't wait for Silksong to come out, though.**


	3. The Sage

_**The Sage**_

When The Knight woke up in the Junk Pit a third time, the Godseeker was awake. The Knight looked up at it.

"Creeper," it said, "Did thee wake us?

"Revived, this kingdom. These Gods, tuned and bested, gleaming in mind. Bright. Sharp.

...And this? Our form swells? Large? Nay. Immense. Majestic. Hibernation, so long forced upon Us, yet the shell that results is strong... So strong!

Thine gaze is adoring. Ye must think Us Godly. Amusing, foolish. But thou art faced with enormity and beauty, true..."

The Knight hit it with the Dream Nail.

Reappearing in the Godhome, The Knight went back to the hallway with the doors, where the lock on the third one vanished, and it opened. The Knight walked inside and once again heard the Godseeker's voice. "Lowly brute! Blindest of worms! Again thee challenge the Gods? What divine whim has granted thee the strength to endure their presence, where no others may stand? Fight then, struggle then, and keenly shall We listen for thy destruction!"

It appeared in an arena covered in hex-shaped yellow glass and honeycombs, but the room was empty, and the bell rang immediately, as the Knight went on to fight Elder Hu, the Collector, and the God Tamer. It happened again when The Knight arrived in an arena that was dark and tinted red, with lanterns of red flame hanging from the ceiling.

After resting on a bench and fighting Galien and Grey Prince Zote, it happened again in an arena full of floating platforms with acid covering the bottom. The Knight then defeated Hornet, before appearing in the Goodseeker's room. It looked down at The Knight, then spoke. "Thou art painfully persistent! Why dost thou defile this pantheon with thine presence? Seek ye glory, o vain one? Thou misunderstand Our purpose. Through ritual combat are We attuned to the voices of the Gods. Ever higher do they lead Us! Higher and higher and higher! Until through Godly focus do We attain communion with that great power sleeping in the Kingdom's heart…"

The Knight walked through the door. It entered an arena resembling Oro and Mato's, but the nails stuck in the ground were even larger. The little shopkeeper Sly was sitting in the center of the room. It noticed The Knight, and suddenly an enormous nail, many times his body's size, came spinning down from above. Sly caught it, then let out a battle cry.

Suddenly, Sly dashed forward at incredible speed, and swung his nail even faster, hitting The Knight head-on. The Knight dashed away as Sly continued his 3-swing combo, then jumped into the air and spun like a buzzsaw. The Knight made use of the opening when he landed to land a hit of its own. Sly turned around lightning-fast, and The Knight dove out of the way as he unleashed a great slash. It hit him once more, then jumped away from a cyclone slash. The Knight dodged attacks and hit once until Sly finally fell, dropping his nail.

The Knight looked up at the Godmaster on her throne, but suddenly Sly jumped back up into the air, brandishing his nail again. He fell to the ground, then leapt straight towards The Knight. The Knight tried to get away, but Sly instantly began spinning, and it was struck. Sly began bouncing off the walls, incredibly fast, in seemingly random directions. Whenever he went near The Knight, he spun towards it, and The Knight dove away. After a few times, The Knight figured out the best window to hit Sly, and eventually whittled him down until he was truly defeated. His nail spun away and embedded into the ground, and Sly bowed.


	4. The Knight

_**The Knight**_

The Knight once again woke up in the junk pit next to the Godseeker. As it stood up, the Godseeker spoke. "What draws thee here, Crawler? Faith? Fear? Or do thee also seek the Gods? Here. Heart of the Kingdom. We listen for them here. But some Gods are distant still. Must be awoken. Take the Godtuner and seek ye the Gods! Seek! That they may find their way. Tuned to mind. Tuned to home. Reward. As reward for thine services, ye shall be allowed to linger here. Linger and gaze. Linger and gaze on Our magnificent shell. Our overpowering beauty!"

The Knight hit it with the Dream Nail, and entered the Godhome again. It walked down the hallway to the end, where a golden portcullis rose to reveal the door to a fourth pantheon, with a plaque reading 'Patheon of The Knight'. The Knight, not capable of the thought needed to see the strangeness in this, simply walked inside.

"O Gods of Hallownest, graciously thee open the way to this greatest of Pantheons! Thy voices grow closer and thy resonance draws Us ever higher!Pray will We, Attune will We, until that spark of divine light shines from the deepest darkness!"

It came into an arena filled with large pink crystals. A bug with a huge crystal on its head and two on its hands, the crystal guardian, dropped down. The Knight dispatched it quickly, then the bell rang and it moved on.

Coming into the next arena, its vision white, The Knight heard what seemed to be a nail slash, then emerged into a darkly lit arena covered in infected vines to see the Broken Vessel falling down as if it had just been hit. The bell rang, and the Knight went on to the next fight. The same thing happened two more times, as The Knight entered fights with the Failed Champion and the Soul Tyrant.

Coming into the Godseeker's room, it looked down and spoke to The Knight. "Show reverence, o meagre one. Show fear! Thou approacheth a great and terrible God.

Though its worldly body be bound and defiled, the glory of its pure form endures, ruler of this pantheon. Its endless power shall attune Us to the one greater still, a God of Gods! Meagre one, dost thou imagine thyself the equal of this God? Dost thou imagine thyself made in its image? Thou assume a similar shape, and the deep echo within thee seems familiar... Ahh! What thoughts are these? Thou sow blasphemies in Our mind, wretch! Begone! We pray that the God of nothingness silence thee forever!"

The Knight walked into the door.

It emerged into a black room, with circular patterns of light illuminating the floor it stood on, to see a huge vessel in a gray cloak in a battle with Link. It swung at him, and he ducked under it, sprinted forward, and drove his blade into it. He pulled it out, and the vessel fell to the ground. Link then slowly turned around with his sword out. The Knight raised its nail.

Suddenly, he ran forward and swung his sword at The Knight, who jumped over it. It tried to hit Link with its nail as it jumped, but he blocked with his shield. The Knight landed, and Link immediately went in for a lunge. The Knight dashed away, then shot off a spell at him. Link simply held out his shield and the blast was sent right back. The Knight jumped away just in time, but Link was dashing toward it again. It swung its nail, but Link blocked it, and countered. The Knight dodged to Link's right, and Link slammed it with his shield.

It jumped into the air and swung its nail down again, but Link blocked. It did something different this time, though, as it then gathered soul in its fist and slammed downward. Black and wahite flames shot up around it, hitting Link square-on. He quickly rolled backwards, pulled out his bow, and fired. The arrow sailed out, fast as lightning, and hit The Knight.

The two approached each other, and each swung at the same time, their weapons colliding between them. Link swung again, The Knight jumped over, swung its nail down, and hit him. The Knight landed behind him, and struck as he turned around. Link fell to the ground, and the bell sounded.


	5. Hallownest

_**Hallownest**_

Once more, The Knight awoke in the junk pit next to the Godseeker. "Gods. O Gods! Thy nature, mysterious. Uncanny. Even so for We who seek!" it said. "By attuning Ourselves We clutch at their greatness, their immortality. Their unknowable splendour. Hallownest. This kingdom is blessed with true Gods. True! All around, the corpses of pretender Gods. But! Not in Hallownest..." The Knight hit it with the Dream Nail.

Walking down the hallway in the Godhome, The Knight felt strangely drawn to a hole in the ceiling. It jumped up it, emerging on a platform on the side of the tower. A strange gold contraption was there, with four golden, oval shaped objects mounted on it. A golden orb sitting next to the device was lit up in its center. The Knight struck it with its nail, and the top half rose up. It heard a grating sound from above, and looked up to see a golden light emerging from some of the vines on the wall of the tower. It climbed up with the mantis claw and found the entrance to a tunnel, at the end of which was a hot spring. A part of the ceiling was cracked, so The Knight jumped up and hit it a few times with its nail. It broke away, revealing another hole in the ceiling leading up. The Knight jumped up it, then emerged at the top of the black tower. A stairway led up to a platform where another golden contraption was sitting. The Knight approached it, and struck the orb in front of it. A light illuminated, and the orb opened up into a small column of void. A plaque appeared.

'_Pantheon of Hallownest_

_Seek The Kingdom's Forgotten Light._'

It stepped into the void, and its vision went white. This time the Godseeker didn't speak, and The Knight came out onto a circular platform with two Vengefly Kings hovering above it. The Knight defeated them, then went on to the Gruz Mother, False Knight, Massive Moss Charger, and Hornet, before coming into the Godmaster's small room. "Mischief beyond mischief! We can not escape thee, even in this highest, most distant of pantheons," it said. "O wielder of nail, o eater of Soul. Are thee a messenger of the Gods... or something stranger? We will not defy thee, continue thy combat. We shall be listening closely..."

The Knight went through the door, then fought Gorb, the Dung Defender, Soul Warrior, and the Brooding Mawlek, then faced the brothers Oro and Mato again. It took a short rest, then went on to Xero, the Crystal Guardian, the Soul Master, and the Obblobles from the Colosseum. It then appeared in the arena of the Mantis Lords, and began fighting the first one. Once it defeated it, it jumped back onto its pillar, but instead of the other two rising to fight the Knight, as had happened before, all three stood up in unison.

Incredibly fast, they all vanished simultaneously. One appeared above the Knight's head and plunged downward. The Knight jumped out of the way, but the other two appeared on opposite sides of it and dashed forward. Just as it was about to be hit, shadows enveloped the Knight, running up its body from the ground, and it flew right through the Mantis Lords' attacks. Two of them appeared hanging on the sides of the cage, and threw out their boomerang-scythes into the arena. The Knight was about to jump over them when the third Mantis Lord plunged down from above, striking it with its nail-lance.

As the fight went on, the Mantis Lords' attacks were perfectly in sync. The Knight was struck several times, and could only avoid most of them narrowly. Eventually though, it defeated one, then another, and finally, the last Lord returned to its throne, and all three bowed. The bell rang, and after a rest in the hot spring room, continued through the pantheon.

It fought a while longer with no abnormalities, until it entered an arena covered in honey and hex-shaped yellow glass. The corpse of a bee creature holding a thin nail was on the ground with Link standing over it. He turned his gaze toward the Knight, then the bell rang. As the Knight continued, this happened again in a room filled with red burning lanterns, then the Knight came onto a large platform in an acid lake jutting out from a wall of the cavern, where there was a door to the next fight. The Godseeker was standing on the platform looking out at some vague bundle of green lights in the distance. "Sleeping God," it said as the Knight approached, "We can barely feel thy presence amongst the green left behind. What strength thee once possessed fades beyond time and tune..." The Knight walked through the door.

The encounter with Link occurred once more by the corpse of the Broken Vessel's dream version, then the Knight came onto another platform, this time a balcony between two walls of an enormous cavern filled with fog. The Godseeker was staring off the edge at a faint image of white roots, long and branching, in the distance. When the Knight approached, it spoke. "O tragedy! This majestic god evades Our attunement with such ease. We live only to serve the gods, to seek them out. Why does she frustrate Us? How does she hide from Us? Does she diminish herself by choice?" The Knight walked through the door.

The Knight encountered Link three more times, next to the corpses of the dream versions of the False Knight and the Soul Master, and a strange bug cloaked in red, then it came onto another balcony. It had a set of stairs on it leading up to an empty white throne, which the Godseeker was once again staring at. "Even long departed, We feel the afterglow of the God-power that sat this throne..." it said. "It lays heavy upon this kingdom. That lingering power alone was beacon enough to draw Us to Hallownest. How bright it must have been to mortal bug stood before it."

Suddenly, a white light began shimmering on the throne. Slowly, it grew, until the silhouette of Link could be made out as if it were sitting on the throne. The Godseeker looked down and sighed before speaking again. "We can no longer ignore this invader to Hallownest and Our mind. How can such a pretender lay claim to this power's throne?! We pray that thee cast it out! Though something about the two of thee feels similar... Ah! Blasphemy! Thou may have proved thyself against the gods of the pantheons, but We doubt that even thee could defeat the one greater still, the God of Gods!" The Knight walked through the door.

It came out into a dark arena just like the one from the end of the pantheon of the Knight, only now it was empty. The same vessel in a grey cloak, the 'Pure Vessel,' dropped down from above, threw back its head, and roared. It was obvious that this was the Hollow Knight in its prime.

It turned to the Knight, then began a quick three-slash combo with its nail. The Knight dashed out of the way, then hit back. The Pure Vessel jumped into the air, then slammed down with its nail. Pools of white light appeared all over the floor, and the Knight only had a split second to move out of the way before huge white blades sprang up from each of them. The Knight shade dashed through them and attacked the Pure Vessel, but it blocked with its nail and countered. The Knight jumped over it, then slammed back down into the ground. A black fireball blasted outward.

The Pure Vessel staggered back, then held out its hand. White daggers shot out, and one of them hit the Knight, knocking it over. The Pure Vessel leaned back and its cloak opened. The Knight jumped just in time to dodge a tendril of void that whipped out from its body. Wings of white light came out from the Knight's back as it moved toward the Pure Vessel and slashed down with its nail. It dashed away as the Pure Vessel jumped across the room. White particles began to surround it as it focused soul. Glowing glyphs in the shape of spheres appeared, one surrounding the Pure Vessel, and others around the arena, including one overlapping the Knight. They all pulsed with energy simultaneously, staggering the Knight. The Pure Vessel approached with its nail, but as it was about to hit, the Knight shade dashed through it, and stabbed it in the back. It fell to a kneel.

The Knight, the Pure Vessel, and the Godseeker all looked up as if expecting something to happen, but suddenly, the Godseeker felt a great pain in its mind, and the two vessels collapsed. Slowly, the Godseeker's vision went black.

* * *

The Knight woke up in a dark cavern surrounded by other vessels standing around it. It looked up to see a young Hollow Knight looking back down at it, and it stood up. In the middle of them all was a tall, slender figure dressed in grey. It had white hair under a pointy gray hat, and its face was covered in blue and red war paint. It seemed to not notice all the vessels, and was looking straight up with its arms crossed. A golden light began to shine from above, and a deafening roar reverberated down. A cloud of void began to rise from the ground, getting thicker by the second, and a second, deeper roar emanated from the ground below the vessels. The void rose to the light, and the vessels' vision went black. The tall figure's stony face was the last thing that could be made out.

* * *

The void cleared, and suddenly, the Knight was alone, standing on the top of a huge black pillar in the Godhome, surrounded by fog. On one side of it, the Godseeker sat on its throne atop another, smaller pillar, also alone. Two more pillars rose high above both of them behind the Godseeker, and behind them, in the background was a sun. The Knight watched as slowly, wings emerged from the sun, then it disappeared. A moth-like creature appeared above the Knight. It had a small black face, wispy, flowing wings, a crown-like protrusion on the top of its head, and legs that looked like molded white metal. She needed no introduction, as she projected her name into the minds of all who beheld her.

_**The Absolute Radiance**_

Images of black and white screaming faces shot up as the Knight casted its abyss shriek spell at full force and hit the Radiance, but she didn't move. Thin lines of light beamed out from her face for a moment, then, along those lines shot out thick pillars of light that vanished into the distance. The Knight jumped up and hit her with its nail a few times, then she teleported to another place above the platform and sent out three globs of yellow essence, one after another. The Knight jumped over the first, but the other two arced up to follow it. It used the wings of its mothwing cloak to avoid them, but all three turned around and came back at it. It dodged them again, and they finally dissipated.

The Radiance then summoned a circle of white nails and sent them out. The Knight dodged them and hit her with its nail. She leaned her head back slightly, and suddenly a huge wall of light appeared at the edge of the platform and began moving toward the Knight. It used it shade cloak to dash through it, but a white nail followed it through. It jumped over it, and the light wall passed the Radiance, revealing that she was once again preparing her light beam attack. The Knight tried to use its wings to avoid it, but that only brought him into the line of another beam, which instantly fired and hit the Knight full force.

As it fell, the Knight shot off a black spell at the Radiance, then began weaving through three more globs of essence that came its way. The Radiance shot out three rounds of beams, and the Knight dodged them as it approached her and hit her with its nail several more times. The Radiance leaned back again, and suddenly a wall of light began approaching from one side, while three walls of nails came from the other. It dashed through the light, then dove through openings in the nails. It used abyss shriek again, and the Radiance teleported back to the center of the platform.

The Knight approached her again, but she leaned back, and endless nails began raining down from the sky in waves. The Knight managed to move through the gaps in the nails and hit the Radiance with its nail every few seconds, and eventually, she had had all she could take, and fell down onto the platform.

The Knight focused soul to heal its injuries as a cloud of void rose up through the dream world and to the very edge of the platform. Bending to the Knight's will, spiked vines of void reached up and bound the Radiance, but suddenly, she broke out, and teleported high above. Floating platforms made of gold formed a path up to her and surrounded her, and the Knight climbed up to meet her, leaving the Godseeker behind. The platforms on the way up disappeared behind it, and the void followed it up.

Upon the Knight reaching her, the Radiance began attacking again, and with less room to maneuver, and the Radiance using her attacks more quickly, it was hit several times. Eventually it hit her enough that the teleported away even higher, to the top of the two pillars. Alone, the Knight climbed up a series of platforms to her as she fired beams of light down at it. It climbed to the top, where it jumped unto one of the two pillars.

The Radiance began to attack with her globs of in quick succession, and the Knight had to jump from pillar to pillar to avoid being hit. In the gaps between attacks, it was able to hit the Radiance with its nail, and eventually, this was enough to drain her stamina. In a tiny opening, the Knight jumped up, swung its nail, and broke through her defences. She staggered back, the void rose up to the pillars, and the Knight's shell shattered. Its shade, the void inside it, fell into the void. Tendrils of void reached up and ensnared the Radiance.

Suddenly, the void rose up, and a huge figure formed from it. Its features were vague, but it had eight white eyes and four arms with claws on its fingers. It reached out with an arm and, with two of those fingers, pried the Radiance's face open, revealing a globe of pure light. With its other hand it bared it's claws, then slashed the light, then again, and again. Again and again and again until it burst and essence erupted out. It spread out everywhere, then it and the Radiance disappeared, totally annihilated.

* * *

The Godseeker sat on its throne, watching as the clouds above it turned dark, and a black liquid began falling down in thin streams. A black creature flew down and stopped in front of it, extending tendrils of void that wrapped the itss neck. The Godseeker only looked on in awe as this god of gods broke into its mind.

* * *

Back in the junk pit, the Real Godseeker was trembling as void leaked from it's eyes. It spread to cover the Godseeker's entire body, taking it over as long tendrils lashed out.

* * *

In the Black Egg Temple, Link and Hornet watched as the orange glow faded from the vines around the egg. Link looked down to consult the Fierce Deity's Mask, only to see it turn to dust before his eyes. They heard footsteps, and both turned around, battle-ready, as the Hollow Knight stepped out of the Black egg, bearing it's nail.


	6. The Void Strikes

_**The Void Strikes**_

"Hornet, is that the..." Link began.

"The Hollow Knight, yes," said Hornet. "But why is it-" she ducked and leapt back as it swung its nail at her. "Why is it here?" she said, moving next to Link.

"Don't ask me," said Link. Both of them jumped back from a nail swing. "I only know what you told me," he continued, "what should we do?" He blocked an attack.

"Let's just restrain it for now," said Hornet, jumping over a swipe.

"Got it," said Link. He rolled under a swing of the Hollow Knight's nail and made a shallow cut on one of its legs. It drew back and made an attempt to counter, but Link kicked its other leg, sending it falling to the ground. Hornet, as it was falling, lassoed it with her thread, binding it as soon as it hit the ground. She drove her needle into the ground to keep it secured.

"Poor thing," said Link, watching it struggle in its bindings.

"Indeed," said Hornet. She looked back at the Black egg. "How strange... The infection seems to be gone, but how?"

"Weird," said Link, bending down to look at the Hollow Knight. Suddenly, some faint expression of recognition appeared in the Hollow Knight's eyes, and it began trying to back away. "Can it... talk? Did you ever meet it before?"

Hornet looked down, thinking. "It is not supposed to be able to speak, no. But then again, it was not supposed to be able to think either. I did meet it once, yes, when I was very young, but that was long ago. I doubt it remembers me."

"It seems to know me for some reason. Looks scared."

"Yes, how strange. Perhaps we should go-" Hornet started, but was interrupted when the ground began shaking. The shaking managed to break one of the threads on the Hollow Knight, and it instantly broke out and began stumbling around. As soon as the shaking stopped, it dann out the door to the temple.

"What the- Hey, where's it going?" said Link.

"I don't know," said Hornet. "Let us follow it."

They ran out after it and saw it leaving the cavern through the exit to their right. It ran through a few caverns, then into Greenpath. They tried to keep following it, but it turned a corner and disappeared into the brush.

"Dang, it got away," said Link, stopping. "Where do you think it's going?"

"I imagine to the palace," said Hornet. "That is the closest place to a home it ever knew."

"The palace disappeared, though, didn't it?" Link asked. "How long has it been in that temple?"

"A very long time," Hornet replied. "I suspect it will have quite the rude awakening when it arrives at the palace. The Pale King is long gone, as well as most of the Kingdom. Hmph. Let us go to the palace, then."

"Wait," Link said, as she began walking. She turned back around. "Look at the ground," he said, pointing. And indeed, on one patch of the normally vibrant grass and brush, it had an odd yellow color. It was faint at first, but slowly, it grew darker, and eventually the entire patch withered and died. "What's happening?" he said, standing up. "There's another patch over there," he continued, waving in the direction Hornet was about to walk. "I wonder what's happening."

"This isn't good," said Hornet. "We must hurry to the palace. Come on."

"Got it," said Link. They ran through Greenpath and down into the Queen's Station. Link rang the bell, and soon the Stag arrived. They got on and rode down to the hidden station by the palace, then got off and ran out into the palace chamber. Nothing seemed unusual at first, but after a moment it was noticeable. "Doesn't it seem a little... bright in here?" said Link.

"Yes, it is," said Hornet. "Nowhere near as bright as it was when the palace was actually present, but the darkness used to be pervading." She suddenly looked up, as if shocked. "Link, the void is gone!"

"What?"

"Void once seeped up into this chamber from the abyss below," said Hornet. "If it has stopped, then something must be wrong. Hurry, to the Abyss!"

They ran down the short path through the Ancient Basin to the entrance of the Abyss and stepped out onto the small balcony. The Abyss was just as dark as it had always been.

"Hmm..." said Hornet. "I know something is wrong here. Wait here, and I will descend and look around." She threw her needle into the wall, then swung down.

"Fine by me," said Link, sitting down. "This had better be a really big deal."

A few minutes later, Hornet swung back up. "I do not know why," she said, "but the void seems to be perfectly still and calm. This is very strange... I have no idea what we should do."

Just at that moment, the ground shook again, but this time, it felt as if it was coming from above. "This is bad," said Hornet. "The void is normally extremely chaotic, and lashes out at all life around it..." She made a small gasp. "The void must have been what was killing the plants in Greenpath."

"Makes sense," said Link, thinking. "Weren't there more of them the closer we got to the city?"

"Yes, there were," said Hornet. "Let's go there, then."

They went back up to the stag station and got on, but as they thundered up to the King's Station, the stag suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" Link asked.

"The tunnel has collapsed ahead," said the stag. "It's too narrow for me to proceed."

"Alright," said Link, jumping off. "We'll keep going from here. I can use the goron mask to dig us through.

Link put on the mask and began pushing stones out of the way, making way for he and Hornet to crawl through. After a while of pushing through the rubble, they came out into a dark space with a slanted ceiling. There was rubble on the floor, and a small exit to the left, where it seemed to be raining outside. They went through, coming out into a massive cavern full of rubble and smashed buildings under black rain. Farther off, there were more buildings that were still standing, and it became obvious that they were in the city.

"What happened here?" said Link.

Suddenly, a black hand tore through one of the buildings with a crash, and the top half went careening to the ground, revealing a gargantuan, four-armed black creature with eight burning white eyes.


	7. Hallownest at Peace

_**Hallownest at Peace**_

"Oh..." said Link.

Hornet simply stared in silence as the creature clawed its way through the lower half of the building. Suddenly, she jumped up, threw her nail, and swung off toward the creature.

"Hey, wait up!" said Link, getting out his hookshot and following after her. After a few minutes, he found her on the top of a tower, observing the creature.

"Why'd you run off like that?" he said, climbing onto the rooftop.

Hornet turned around. "I've come to a conclusion," she said. "This creature is made of void. That much is obvious, but more than just being _made_ from void, it possesses complete control over the void... Or... No, it embodies the void. It unifies it under one mind. No other creatures can be made from the void anymore, for its entire conscience is this creature... The Lord of Shades."

"Alright, that's a lot," said Link. "What do you think we should do?"

"Simply put, we must defeat it," said Hornet. "The void... it opposes all life. Normally it is held back by its inability to cooperate with itself, but now it seems to have overcome that weakness. If we don't stop it, it could spread over all of Hallownest—no, the world."

"Hmm," said Link. "Well, this may not help, but when I went to the Abyss, my light arrows were able to subdue the void, at least for a little while."

"It is worth an attempt," said Hornet. "I've no idea if anything can defeat such a godlike being."

Link got out his bow, nocked a light arrow, and pulled back. "Here we go," he said. The arrow soared across the ruined city, leaving an arcing trail of light. It slammed into the side the the Shade Lord, and a disc of light appeared where it hit, and the creature recoiled. It instantly snapped around, spotted Link and Hornet almost immediately, and began sprinting towards them. "Uh-oh," said Link.

"Run!" Hornet shouted, before throwing her nail and darting away.

"Good idea," Link said, running to the edge of the roof. The Shade Lord arrived, and Link jumped off the side just as its claw drove downward through the building. The creature had four arms, however, and it quickly lashed out with another. Before he knew it, Link was surrounded by darkness, in the grasp of the Shade Lord. Reacting quickly, he slashed with his sword, bursting out of the thing's hand, which completely dissipated, and beginning a free fall through the city. He fired his hookshot into the wall of a nearby building, and the momentum swung him toward it. He crashed through a window and into the building.

A few corpses of once-infected bugs littered the room. Link dashed through the building and jumped out another window on the other side of the same floor. He used his mantis claw to slide down the side. Looking up, he saw that the Shade Lord had already reformed it hand, and seemed to be looking for him. Not in a frantic or panicked way, but slowly, methodically. Each of its eight eyes seemed to go in different directions. Link ducked under a nearby canopy.

'_Okay, so the light arrows do seem to hurt it, if only a little,_' he thought, '_but we'll need to find another way to actually kill it._' "Hmm," he said, poking his head around a corner. "Where's Hornet?"

* * *

Hornet, standing atop another building, close to the one the Shade Lord had destroyed, was having similar thoughts. She trusted that Link was safe, because she knew he was competent in combat, but she had no idea of how to defeat the Shade Lord. It seemed almost invincible. She swung away, looking for something she could use against it.

* * *

Link stalked through the alleyways and rubble of the city, trying to avoid detection, until suddenly he felt one of his feet turn cold. He looked down to see that he had stepped on a tentacle of void. "Uh-oh," he said. It shot up around Link's leg, and the Shade Lord, now halfway across the city, instantly snapped its head around in his direction.

He quickly sliced the tentacle, and readied another light arrow. It streaked across the city and blasted into the Shade Lord, but again didn't seem to harm it. It began running towards Link, who prepared to fire another arrow, until he saw Hornet swing down from above the creature. She slashed its arm as she went, then disappeared into the city. The Shade Lord disappeared from Link's sight while trying to locate her, so he grappled onto a nearby rooftop for a better view. He shot another light arrow, this time nowhere in the Shade Lord's direction, and soon Hornet joined him.

"So I guess we just keep hitting it until it goes down, huh?" Link asked.

"Yes," Hornet replied. "It is the best idea I can conjure."

"Alright, then," said Link, drawing his bow. The Shade Lord had seen them by now, and it started to close the distance. Link was about to fire when he saw a light at the top of another building, much higher than they were. It was the Hollow Knight. He was standing atop the tallest remaining building, and seemed to be focusing soul.

Hornet gasped, and, as the Shade Lord too turned to look at the Hollow Knight, said "Link, be ready to shoot when the Hollow Knight is ready," then ran to the edge of the building.

"Wait, how will I know when it's-" Link started to say, but she had already jumped off the edge. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, training his arrow on the Shade Lord.

The Shade Lord moved to attack the Hollow Knight, but Hornet wrapped her thread around it, restraining it and pinning it down. It tried to break free, but the strength of the Pale Wyrm lay inside her, and she held strong. The glow around the Hollow Knight got brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding, and it bore its nail in front of it. Link knew it was ready then, and he shot the arrow, stunning the Shade Lord, as the Hollow Knight jumped off of the building. With its nail, it plunged into the Shade Lord, falling inside it as void poured from its body. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing was happening, but within the Shade Lord, a light began growing. It seemed to fight against the void, until it encompassed the Shade Lord's entire body, and all of it suddenly disappeared in a flash.

Link hurried to the place where it had happened, and saw Hornet standing there, holding what seemed to be a mask.

"It's over," she said, handing it to him. It was the Fierce Deity's Mask, only now, instead of just the war paint, its eyes were entirely black. Pieces were flaking off of it, and soon the whole thing crumbled to dust in his hands.

"It's over," Link agreed.

* * *

**So that's the end. Hope you enjoyed this short little story. As always I don't own any of these characters, the Legend of Zelda, or Hollow Knight.**


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